Last week the French Parliament approved a law requiring all new buildings in commercial zones to be partially covered in plants or solar panels. In a bid to make France more eco-friendly, all new buildings in commercial zones across the country must comply with new environmental legislation. The law will sanction business to either partially […]
The Local Government Association (LGA) has conducted research entitled ‘Nutrient and water neutrality: The impact of environmental protections on housing supply’. The LGA commissioned Residential Analysts and Canal Street Research to investigate the potential impact of environmental protections on new housing delivery. A news report in inews said that ‘sewage-polluted rivers blocking construction of thousands […]
The TCPA and the Environment Agency have launched a resource on addressing flood risk through the planning system. The video explains how and why planning must consider flood risk and explores different options and opportunities. There are also links to a range of related resources, including Environment Agency strategy and related resources Site-specific flood risk […]
Media stories: A legal requirement that new houses do not pollute nearby wetlands, rivers and nature reserves has halted development across a swath of England, the Guardian has reported. The news piece stated that ‘forty-two local authorities in England were last month told they must ensure that new homes are “nutrient neutral” and do not add damaging nitrates […]
From Defra The Water Services Division at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published a research report which concludes that the overall picture generated by the research is that it is “both rare and challenging” to achieve a strategic approach to surface water management through the planning system. Introducing the research report, DEFRA said […]
From waterbriefing Five regional water resource groups have published their Emerging Regional Water Resource Plans, setting out how they propose to address a predicted water deficit for England of 3,435 million litres per day (Ml/d) megalitres by 2050. The estimate is set out in the national framework for water resources paper Understanding England’s future water needs […]
Executive summary Effective planning is essential for getting the right kind of sustainable growth in the right places. This includes avoiding development in flood risk areas and creating and maintaining places that are resilient to flooding. This report describes how flood risk information is used in strategic spatial plans and decision making, and the barriers […]
Strategic Renewables Unit (SRU) update – Offshore wind and Marine Planning It is an exciting but challenging time to be engaged in renewables work, and particularly offshore wind, in the marine area. The Government has set ambitious targets of 40GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and further increases by 2050 to help meet a commitment to Net […]